High school students preparing to apply to study as international students at undergraduate university programs in the U.S. commonly find school selection challenging because of the sheer number of colleges and universities to consider and evaluate. How should applicants strategically choose a good spread of schools and optimize their chances for admission without applying to every school on their initial long list of programs?
Thankfully, there’s an approach that helps to simplify and organize this decision-making process. By segmenting your list of schools into three broad categories – reach, match, and safety – and choosing one or more schools in each category, applicants diversify risk and ensure the best chance for admission to a target school.
Reach Schools
A reach school is an aspirational choice that you dream of attending but feel your test scores, GPA, and profile might not measure up to. The chance of admission might not be zero, but it is probably less than 30%. What a reach school is for Student A might be different for Student B. For a student with a solid but not super-high GPA and an SAT score below 1500, the Ivy League schools might be a reach as their average GPAs and test scores are the best of the best. Conversely, someone with an SAT around 1350 might set UC Berkeley as their reach school, and a student with an SAT around 1200 might set the University of Indiana as a reach school. Depending on your grades, GPA, TOEFL, and extracurriculars, we recommend applying to at least one reach school.
Match Schools
Match schools are those that appear well-aligned to the applicant’s GPA, test scores, career goals, and overall profile. Generally, these schools are well within the applicant’s reach, with a probability of admission of at least 50%. If a school lists its average SAT range as 1250 – 1420, and your SAT score is 1330, around the 50th percentile of all applicants, then that is a match school for you, as far as the SAT is concerned. The match is even stronger if the school offers programs that closely fit with your intended field of study and career goals. It is common for applicants to target several schools that they identify as match schools, with some appealing more because of factors like location, stellar research facilities, opportunities for internships or exchange study, or other personal preferences, but all should be programs the applicant would be excited to attend.
Safety Schools
Safety schools are just what they sound like – schools that applicants feel safe in believing they are almost certain to gain admission. These are often bigger state schools with large student bodies, schools which offer strong incentives for international applicants, or schools where the applicant’s grades and test scores are at or above the 80th percentile. While the school might not be your first choice, labeling a school a safe choice should not mean that it would feel like a sacrifice to attend it. It should still offer optimal education and resources that fit your learning and career objectives. Oftentimes large state schools and smaller liberal arts colleges have amazing student life and vibrant student bodies, offering abundant opportunities to get a fantastic education while building a professional network.
One Applicant’s Strategy
Jenny is a rising senior with a GPA of 3.75/4 and an SAT score of 1470. Her intended major is business and her career goal is to work in the pharmaceutical industry, so she is targeting schools with strong connections with the healthcare or pharmaceutical industries. Jenny has identified Duke University as her reach school, as it has an excellent business school with numerous healthcare business course offerings, and practical health and pharma project opportunities via an alliance with Duke’s renowned medical school. While there is a great fit for her learning needs, the bar to entry is very high. Duke’s average GPA is 4.13 and middle 50% for the SAT is 1510-1570. For match schools, Jenny has selected the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan, which are great universities whose GPA and SAT averages align with her scores. Finally, Jenny plans to apply to Vanderbilt as her safety school, because it has a strong track record of sending its graduates into the healthcare industry and her grades and test scores are firmly above average.
Conclusion
It’s a common strategy to diversify risk and opportunity by applying to at least one school from each category. By spreading risk across a broader portfolio of schools, applicants have the highest possible chance of getting into an American undergraduate program.
If you have questions about structuring your application strategy or how to choose the best schools for you or if you would like guidance for picking the right reach, match, and safety schools, click here to read about our undergraduate consulting and mentorship services.